Putin lies to the Russian people about the war in Ukraine and has aggressively blocked independent media and social media platforms. Many Russians, exposed only to Putin’s propaganda, support the war and do not know the truth about atrocities committed in their names.

Call Russia’s creative strategy leverages one communication channel Putin is unlikely to eliminate – telephone calls from one human to another. We downloaded 40 million publicly available phone numbers, constructed a cutting-edge online calling platform, provided conversation guidelines informed by psychologists, and activated Russian speakers around the world to call Russia and stand up for the truth.

As much as 80% of the Russian population actively supports the war in Ukraine. Putin’s propaganda machine and information blockades have been highly effective for decades and today block the flow of facts about atrocities in Ukraine, weaving a narrative from disinformation to Putin’s own advantage.

Anyone who may be against the war in Russia despite the propaganda faces the threat of draconian punishment for criticizing the regime. People are afraid of their fellow citizens and feel disempowered to protest. Creating space and informing Russians who can break through this fear is critical to any attempt to stop Putin. Bypassing Putin’s propaganda machine and information blackouts by connecting directly with Russians exposes Russians to the truth about the humanitarian tragedy in Ukraine and can empower Russians to stand against the war.

Other initiatives have attempted to send counter-propaganda into Russia through text, email, and automated calling platforms. While well-intended, these efforts often made ordinary Russians feel harassed, unfortunately playing into Putin’s narrative.

Call Russia, on the other hand, relies on personal connection, compassion, and perseverance no matter how difficult the conversation. The initiative appeals to the human instinct to take concrete individual actions in the face of enormous tragedy, to make one phone call and add one voice at a time.

Our call to action needed a massive global audience to reach and motivate Russian speakers around the world, appealing to them to invest significant time and emotional energy into these critically important conversations. With no budget for marketing or advertising and no preexisting platform, Call Russia relied on earned media to generate emotional responses and support.

Call Russia is a platform for concrete conversations with one aim – breaking through Putin’s propaganda machine and information blackouts. It is one thing is to make a phone call and another entirely to know what to say.

From the beginning, Call Russia put together a team of 4 psychologists to develop conversation guidelines, which were constantly tested and updated to reflect best practice. The guidelines have been exceptionally effective, with a striking rate of 47% of calls judged as positive by volunteers. The official magazine of the American Psychological Association, Monitor on Psychology, has cited Call Russia as the best example of how to speak with Russians.

Key conversation guidelines include transparently identifying the caller’s purpose and connection to the issue, focusing on humanitarian tragedies rather than arguing about who is right or wrong, seeking to engage the call recipient by asking questions, and maintaining an open dialogue.

The creative idea was simple: one phone call won’t end the war, but 40 million might. The Russian people themselves, armed with the truth, have the power to stand against Putin.

Execution, however, was immensely complicated. For Call Russia to work, Russian-speaking volunteers need to invest significant time and emotional effort into a seemingly impossible task. Early volunteers said it would be much easier to donate money than to make these draining calls.

Our compelling assets and authentic voice rallied volunteers and supporters around the word to make “the most important call of your life,” and we set an ambitious goal with the 40 million phone numbers in our database. Call Russia volunteers and supporters know that, like the war, the scope of the challenge is immense, but every conversation matters.

Call Russia has been recognized as a model for countering disinformation and featured in 800+ top-tier articles from CNN, BBC, CBS News, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, and others, reaching an audience of 1.7+ billion.

The initiative’s entirely organic Twitter presence reinforced earned media and far exceeded results of massively funded campaigns. Influential figures who shared Call Russia’s moving video anthem and call to action include Richard Branson and former International Space Station Commander Scott Kelly.

The European Council, representatives of various governments, and NGOs have consulted Call Russia on countering disinformation and implementing similar communications principles in their own work.

Call Russia’s most important contribution is the more than 130,000 calls made from more than 130 countries in just four weeks. Nearly half these conversations have been positive, showing significant progress in the one factor Putin fears most – putting the truth in the hands of the Russian people.